Exercise bikes

[juggsy]

Looking to get a home exercise bike, as part of my plan to build out a small home gym and allow me to do some exercise at home. Aware of the pros and cons of a gym membership but this is the route I’m going down for now.

Not keen on the Peloton style spin bikes with the online classes (and I don’t want to have to pay the monthly fees), I’d like something which can automatically change resistance and has a few programs like interval training.

Currently looking at a Nordic Track GX 4.6, but any recommendations welcome.

[LimaDelta]

Wattbike will do everything you want and more. You can adjust it to match the geometry of your real bike too which is great - as long as you are the only one using it. They don't like being constantly adjusted, and the bars/seat/etc will become loose over time. Great for personal use, not so good for shared use. It will also take a proper bike seat, rather than a proprietary big cushion type like some gym-type bikes have, so you can fit your saddle of choice.

[mcelliott]

I have a wattbke and a normal turbo set up too, both are great, I link them both up to Zwift which is a really good training tool

[juggsy]

Thanks - the watt bikes look around £2k which is a little more than I wanted to spend (the Nordic Track is around £700-£800)

[LimaDelta]

CheesecakeRunner said:

Just buy a cheap clothes rack from Argos. Because without something like Peloton or Zwift, that’s what your exercise bike will be after a couple of months. They’re mind numbingly boring.

This is also a good point - I bet there is a huge amount of lockdown fitness kit currently unused and ready to be picked up at bargain prices (14 Wattbike Atoms on eBay at the moment).

And as for boredom, no more so than any other 'cardio indoors' machines. Stick a podcast or some tunes on and just suck it up for an hour or two. Sure it's not as good as getting out but at this time of year especially, it's better than nothing.

[juggsy]

I actually quite like doing 30 mins on the bike and catching up with tv at the same time, hence wanting to get a bike (but not £000s to do it).

This will be part of some other equipment I’m going to buy